Teacopter

This morning dawned damp and rainy. I had a little something stowed away for just such a day -- a little tea set for Cody's kitchen. He was delighted at first ("That sugar bowl has a top just like Daddy's!") and set about playing.

A few minutes later I came in to find him totally engrossed, and said, "Are you making a cup of tea for Mommy?" He looked at me with something approaching disbelief, maybe even scorn, and said: "No Mommy. I turned it into a helicopter. This is a Chinook. The spoon is part of its propeller."

Um, sure. Okay.

Perhaps I should've saved the tea set for Cordelia.

Sunday in the Park with Cordy

P.S. I defy you to find someone with more crow's feet. It's like I have a second pair of eyes.

Coffee, Coffee, Cordy, Coffee

When Mom looks away...

The kid was born to eat -- and drink.

Suburban Saturday

Hi everyone! Today was awesome. We haven't had a family Saturday in a couple of weeks, so Cordy and I were so excited we both got up really early. Mom and Dad just shrugged and off we went on a family adventure to Lowe's! It opens at 6:00. Mom was sick of the bushes in the front yard, so we ripped them out and planted them where they can't be seen. And then we made a flower garden with my mums! I was extremely helpful.

It was so amazing, because when you are gardening, basically all you do is dig in the dirt. Again, I was extremely helpful. Not only did I choose all the flowers, I chose where to plant them, and I dug the holes -- sometimes several times!
Eventually it was time to clean up. Even that was awesome, because I have my own broom.

Then the real cleanup came. Mom said that I looked and smelled like a Dickensian street urchin. Dad said I looked like the Dread Pirate Blacktoenails. There was so much dirt that we needed...the BIG bathtub. In Mom and Dad's room! Since Cordelia likes to take her bath when I do, we kind of need more room now.
Check out our matching shampoo horns!


The light is low here, but you can see how respectable it looks now! I am such a talented gardener. I think I will ask Dad if we can do it all again tomorrow!!

A Minor Miracle

The stars, naps, and feedings aligned. And we left the house. Together. The three of us. Went. Out. Of. The. House. !!!! Fun was had by all.


And just for smiles:

Hats off to Cody

Reason #354,239 why I love being a mom. Cody and I embarked this morning on an acorn hunt, so as to spare the lawnmower some agony. We collected tons of them and then made a "picnic site for the squirrels, Mommy! So they can find them and eat them!" As we were prowling around the lawn with our buckets, he ran up to me, held out his hand and said, "Look Mommy! These acorns are wearing little hats!"

Mum's the Word

Cody and I did some retail therapy at the Lake Ridge Nursery last week. We planted some pansies and got some mums (yet to be planted because they look so pretty on the stairs). Cody, it turns out, loves mums. He loved choosing them ("Mom! Let's get these yellow mums! And those orange mums! And these purple ones because they are my favorite mums!"

I kept telling him not to pat them, because they were delicate, but then realized...

...he was hugging them.

Cordelia, naturally, was a bit more circumspect. These mums are not to be trusted without careful and lengthy scrutiny.

And maybe a taste test. The determined little bird succeeded in tipping the mum over and nearly eating a bud. Oops.

The Weekly Cody

Cody is featured in this week's The Weekly Standard, in the parody. Look closely and you'll see someone else, too...

Everyone's always telling me he should be a child model. Honestly, who has the time? At least now his cute little mug is published. If you want to see it up close, click here. To get around the "subscriber only," enter "TWS" for login, and "media" for the password.

Birdie at Play

Cordy and I have had a girls' weekend, since Cody and Jonathan are up in Belmar visiting Mary Beth and Walter. We haven't done a lot -- some napping, some retail therapy, and lots of playing. And, funny face-making. She's quite good at that.

Below, Mom, she is doing "pony foot." She must have been thinking of Granny.

She's now about a million times better at sitting up on her own than she was just two days ago. See?

Birdie Swings!

And loves it.

And she's (mostly, almost, kind of) sitting up by herself, too! For a whole 15 seconds! :)

She's pretty dextrous and enjoying all of CJP's old toys. Now if only she'd become a champion sleeper, like him...

The triumph, the tragedy, the con artist

This is long. I'm exhausted, and just going to indulge myself instead of trying to think clearly and write concisely. Only, like, 5 people read this, anyway, so forgive the day-in-the-life-ness of this. Anyway, for the last couple weeks, I've wondered if Cordelia is ever planning to, you know, move. When not being transported. She's perfectly happy to lie on her back on her little mat, and occasionally will kind of turn to one side, but that's about it.

This morning, when the songbird's dulcet tones awakened us at 4:00, we went in to find her on her tummy, looking around confusedly. Maybe she's been practicing at night; maybe she just decided it was time. I thought it might be a fluke.

I was wrong. I coached her a little in the morning and she spent the entire day flipping over. No hesitation, no difficulty at all. She was delighted with herself. The problem was, she couldn't figure out how to either flip back over, or to just lie down with her head to the side, instead of mashing her face down onto the ground or mattress (which of course is why infants are supposed to sleep on their backs). I tried coaching her, held her head sideways to show her, and kept flipping her over to her back again so she could nap. No dice. Lots of frustrated screaming (um, from both of us, maybe).

I can't say I'm unhappy that she's not a girl who wants to be on her back, but the no napping all day about killed me. I was in a bit of a panic, honestly, thinking what on earth I'd do at bedtime. I suspected it would take her a couple of days to figure it all out, and was wondering how much sleep you actually need to survive. Oh, and I start work tomorrow.

Meanwhile, JVL texts. He is somewhere in 95, with a broken-down Jeep, a tow truck, an almost-empty cell phone battery and no idea when he'll be home, poor man.

Both kids get tired at exactly the same time. I got Cody down, fed Cordelia, then as I put her in her crib (on her back) heard a piercing scream from his room. I dropped her like a hotcake and rushed into his room, asking what was wrong. (I should note that he never does this. Once he's down, you never hear a peep.) Here's our conversation:

Me: "Baby, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

CJ, brightly: "Hi Mommy!"

Me, less brightly: "Hi Cody. What's wrong?"

CJ: "Mom, I need something."

Me: "What do you need?"

CJ: "Something."

Me: "What kind of something?"

CJ, looking around, clearly stalling: "I think I need a bear or something. Some kind of buddy to cuddle with."

Me: "Cody, you have all your buddies in here already. Look. Here they are: Patches, Prince, Buddy, Blue, Koala, Seal, Skippy, Tigger, Taggy, Tippy, Gerald, Friedmore, and Bidi. And two pillows. And two other blankets. There's barely any room for you."

CJ: "I know but I think that's not enough buddies Mom. I think I need another one. I think I need another one right now, Mommy."

Anyway, three minutes later, I rushed back to Cordelia's room, figuring all hell was about to break loose. And here's what I found.

Yep. She's a hard case, this one. Very sneaky. I'm just hopeful that she'll sleep better and longer now that she's on her belly. Please God. Please.

Poor Cody's Ears

Cordelia started screaming at 8:08 this morning. At 9:22, with her still going strong, Cody turned to me and said, "Mom? Cordelia just really makes my ears hurt."

Unfortunately, Cordelia Cries.

Today was one of those days when I realized if I didn't start writing down some of the stuff that Cody says, I will lose it forever. The days are so busy, and he never stops talking. And so, some classics.

She was a bit fussy today, and at one point, I relegated Cody to his room so I could try to get her down for her nap. He was pretty good-natured about it, and when I emerged, I went into his room and said, "Ok, she's asleep. What are you up to, buddy?" He replied, "I am just playing independently in here, Mom." I thanked him for his patience, and he nodded and said soberly, "Unfortunately, Mom, Cordelia cries."

Touché.

Earlier in the day, they had been bonding in the kitchen, and he even let her hold Patches.

But only for about 30 seconds. But that was enough for her to make her mark. As soon as he got Patches back, he wrapped his index finger around Patches's ear and stuck his thumb in his mouth, to make sure everything was still kosher, then got a strange look on his face and said, "Mom! There is something disgusting on my finger? Or in my nose? It smells like Cordelia has been here!" I was confused, so I did what any sane mother would do -- I leaned over and started sniffing. Sure enough, I detected a small, slimy, and pungent spot: she had managed to drool some spit-up on the poor pup's head.

But the best of all was this, as we sat playing this morning. He asked to hold her and said, "I am giving her such sweet hugs and kisses! She is my little baby sister." He paused, then said, "She came from Amazon."

I said, "Really? From Amazon?" And he nodded and said, "Yes. We got her from Amazon."

So I asked him, "What about you? Where did you come from?"

And he looked at me as if I were a simpleton, and said matter-of-factly: "I came from God."

The Princess on her Pink Throne

Cody and Patches are Ready for Fall

("Mom. This is a Nike SWOOSH!" he informed me, pointing at the logo on his pants. Hats off to JVL for producing a brand-conscious kid.)

Rice, Rice Baby

September has come/it is hers (?)

Cordelia-bird is 5 months old today. We're thinking maybe she'll be more a fall person (like her mama) than a summer person, what with her hating the heat, the sun, the humidity, and being outdoors in general. To celebrate having survived her first summer, we bought her a little Bumbo chair. She's shown only a passing interest in rolling over (which Cody did on August 22, 2008) and in sitting up on her own (which he was doing by the first week of September 2008). Mostly she just watches Cody and occasionally makes an effort to get herself around, then gets bored and wants to be held or just hang out. She wasn't sure what to make of it at first (notice Cody "opening" the box with his pliers):

But then realized this made her part of the gang, and loved being one of the big kids.

Cody, as per usual, was quite pleased with the box.

Since she's more active, we pulled out the ol' Exersaucer, though we have yet to find half its parts, which must be somewhere in the attic. She doesn't know the difference anyway...and she loves it! Cody was happy to show her the ropes (though in a Cody classic, he immediately said, "The problem is, these things don't have batteries! We need to get the screwdriver and GET SOME BATTERIES!").

She's a fan, as was her big brother, back in the day.

This is him on September 5, 2008:

And here he is today, heading off to the last baseball game of the season with his Dad.